This
Press Release announces Ubisoft has acquired Nadeo, though terms of the deal
with the TrackMania developer are not revealed (thanks Frans). The
announcement is pretty brief, so here's the whole shebang:

Paris, France
– October 05, 2009. Today, Ubisoft announced the acquisition of the development
studio Nadeo, creator of TrackMania, the cult multiplayer car racing video game.

Set up in 2000 in Paris and comprising a highly talented team of developers, the
Nadeo studio has won acclaim for the quality of its multiplayer technology which
offers one of the best available on-line game experiences and has already
notched up 10 million registered players. Its flagship game – TrackMania – has
700,000 unique players a month and is a pioneer in the sharing of creations
(almost 15 million custom tracks created since 2008). It is also the first
eSport franchise for racing games.

"The acquisition of Nadeo is an important step in our expansion within the
on-line gaming sector", said Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer of Ubisoft.
“Through Nadeo, Ubisoft will gain an expert team, one of the best on-line
technologies around as well as a flagship multiplayer game that enjoys an
unrivalled reputation among a loyal and committed community. We are excited
about the idea of introducing TrackMania to an ever-wider audience and sharing
the expertise of Nadeo's teams with our Group's other developers”.

"Joining Ubisoft is a huge opportunity for us to develop and innovate and
take Nadeo to new horizons", said Florent Castelnérac, Chief Executive Officer
of Nadeo. “Nadeo’s team was keen for this acquisition to happen. Like players in
a community, we see ourselves as being a complementary fit with Ubisoft and
believe that we can share and quickly move ahead together".

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